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Making a difference every day by helping families who have experienced homelessness move into permanent housing with the basic comforts of home.
Our Mission
At the Welcome Home Project, we know that all families need more than just a roof over their heads to turn a house into a home.
We help San Francisco-based homeless families who are transitioning into permanent housing through an innovative collaboration between the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® Foundation, local non-profit organizations, government agencies, and the business community.
Upon their move into permanent housing, transitioning families are provided our signature Welcome Home Package which includes brand-new items like cookware, dishes, eating utensils, sheets, blankets, towels, pillows, and small kitchen appliances. Each package is personalized for families and children.
By relieving struggling families of the additional financial stress of acquiring the basic goods that many of us take for granted when settling into the safety of a new home, we further ensure that vulnerable families remain permanently housed, reducing the chances of a return to homelessness.
News!
In May 2019 we announced the Welcome Home Project marked its four-year anniversary by crossing a milestone in having provided more than 3,200 formerly homeless adults and children in San Francisco with brand-new housewares and personal hygiene items as they transitioned into permanent housing.
We are so proud our grassroots program is making a real difference in our community.
How It Works
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We purchase or accept donations of a range of brand-new home goods including small appliances such as toasters and microwaves, dishes, cookware, linens, toiletries, cleaning supplies, items for children including toys and school supplies, as well as essentials including first-aid and hygiene kits.
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These items are held and organized at a centrally-located storage facility in San Francisco.
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The Welcome Home Project maintains an easy-to-use online request portal for non-profit organizations and city agencies. We ask for details of which items the family or individual may especially need so we can customize what is provided.
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The requesting organization is notified when the order is ready to be picked up by staff from that organization.
Each Welcome Home Package is customized for the family's needs with items including:
Our Impact
Since its founding in 2015, the Welcome Home Project has helped close to 5,000 formerly homeless individuals — including more than 1,200 children — settle into their new homes by providing fresh bedding, cookware, dining ware, cleaning and hygiene products, small appliances, and other essentials. In this effort, we have partnered with 54 non-profit homeless service organizations across San Francisco, including the Hospitality House, San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team, Episcopal Community Services, and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation.
The Welcome Home Project helps more than 143 families per month — that’s at least 5 new families a day — as they work to rebuild productive, safe, and healthy lives and homes.
Watch our videos to learn more:
Community Voices
For Service Providers
Kendra and the Support Services Team at the Camelot Hotel
“Tenants and staff at the Camelot Hotel would like to express our gratitude for the Welcome Home Project! When folks first move in, they often have very few belongings. For many of them, it's been a while since they had their own private space, a door they can close, and a bed that needs sheets! The Welcome Home kit offers helpful items that we take for granted at home. Even small items such as a can opener, glasses, silverware, a drying mat and a dish towel make a big difference! When I deliver the Welcome Home kits, tenants are often so humbled, surprised, and grateful that they are moved to tears. They can't believe that the community would think of them personally with such a welcoming and thoughtful gift. THANK YOU for helping our tenants here at the Camelot Hotel feel loved, welcomed, and humanized. Thank you for helping them feel like they matter, and for giving them supportive tools to help them begin their new housing journey with dignity. We can't express our gratitude enough!”
Charlie Berman, Case Worker, Citywide Forensic Team
“Every time I help my clients pick up goods from the Welcome Home Project to stock their new apartments, I am impressed by the quality of the goods and the cordiality of the staff. It's so heartening to see SFAR give back in this way. Many of my clients are moving into housing after years on the street, and the bundles of goods they get through the Welcome Home Project often increase the comfort and dignity they feel in their new homes. Thank you for doing this important service!”
Formerly Homeless Resident, Minna Lee Hotel
“I was really surprised when I received my gifts because I was on the street, and I had to get rid of a lot of items. So, when I came to the Minna Lee, I had nothing, and the care package from the Welcome Home Project made me feel really good. The bedding and the cleaning supplies were and are still useful. If it was not for those items, my unit would have been dirty, and it would have made me feel depressed because I could not take care of my home. Those items helped me to get acclimated in my unit. I just appreciate having to stay here at the Minna Lee because I am treated as an adult.”
Simon Warner, Case Worker, Citywide Focus
“I am a social worker that works with clients who are struggling with many different issues including living with mental health issues, HIV, substance abuse, trauma and homelessness. Each relationship and each client has a unique perspective and experience. One thing they all have in common is struggling with the stigma that is associated with these challenges in their lives. I have used Welcome Home Project twice now with two clients who have been placed in permanent housing. Having a stable home is the foundation on which building a life can commence. Welcome Home enables clients to fill their home with necessities. The items they provide are good quality and new. Watching a client open the boxes and smile with gratitude is a joy to witness. Welcome Home is one vital step in in empowering clients to have more choices and support them in fulfilling their self-identified goals. This helps build self-worth and decreases stigma. Thank you, Welcome Home Project, for your good work.”
Amelie Hansen, Counselor, Star Community Home
“These little things make a huge, huge difference. It turns the house into a home and it makes the kids smile.”
Kevin Birmingham, Past President, SF Association of REALTORS®
"Members of the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® are proud to contribute and volunteer with the Welcome Home Project. We strive to help make the transition to a new home a positive experience for all families in San Francisco, and the Welcome Home Project is a wonderful opportunity to do this!"
“These little things make a huge, huge difference. It turns the house into a home and it makes the kids smile.”
If you are a non-profit service organization registered with the Welcome Home Project, please initiate a request on behalf of clients here:
If your non-profit service organization would like to register with the Welcome Home Project, please email foundation@sfrealtors.com for more information.
Donate
The Welcome Home Project is funded entirely by charitable donations from individuals and business organizations in San Francisco. We are service-oriented, cost-effective, and all of our proceeds serve homeless families in the city. We do not receive government grants, public funding, or taxpayer money.
Additionally, the Welcome Home Project is an initiative of the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization (tax ID #94-3158665).
Your tax-exempt donation goes a long way in helping homeless families settle into permanent housing. Please consider making a contribution:
You can also make a donation to the Welcome Home Project by check. Please make your check payable to the "SFAR Foundation" and mail it to:
SFAR Foundation
301 Grove Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
If you are interested in hosting a "housewares party" for the Welcome Home Project, please email foundation@sfrealtors.com.
Contact
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301 Grove Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 431-8500, Ext.1125
© 2018 The San Francisco Association of REALTORS® Welcome Home Project
The Welcome Home Project is an initiative of the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization (tax ID #94-3158665).